A review of fiscal and political trends in the late 1970's made it appear that support for education would slip measurably, but a resurgence of national interest in education in the early 1980's as a result of commission reports and nationwide studies has led to increased spending for major reforms. The pattern of support for reforms in other areas suggests that the public must be convinced that reforms are having an impact if their support is to continue. This need to convince the public can be translated into a need for effective means of measuring the results of the educational reform efforts. Among the methods that can be used for evaluating the success of reforms are (1) monitoring statewide and local performance indicators, (2) studying the overall financial impact of the reforms, (3) comparing the cost effectiveness of various programs with similar goals, (4) conducting evaluations of discrete programs, (5) assessing the degree of local implementation of state-mandated reforms, (6) examining the cumulative impact of broad reform packages, and (7) conducting research isolating cause and effect relationships. Such evaluations are extremely complex, but are critical to maintaining reform momentum. (PGD)